


Love Isn't Easy

by thelunaticAword



Category: Impractical Jokers
Genre: Angst, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Threesome - F/M/M, just mostly fluff, no SMUT whatsoever, with a little bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-13
Updated: 2017-10-13
Packaged: 2019-01-16 22:59:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12352293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelunaticAword/pseuds/thelunaticAword
Summary: Love is never easy. Loving two people makes things a bit more complicated. When those two people happen to be best friends, well, that gets a little tougher. Jace knows this all too well. Will she lose the only men shes ever loved, or will she find a way to be happy in the end?





	Love Isn't Easy

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for my twin @impractically-q-pid over on tumblr! 
> 
> find my tumblr here: https://impractical-bettas.tumblr.com

Falling in love was a beautiful thing. Falling in love with two people was rough. When those two people were best friends who _more than likely only liked women_ made things just a little bit worse.

Jace was all too familiar with that situation. Q and her had been dating for about 6 months when she had confessed her love for his best friend. It had snuck up out of nowhere, her feelings for Sal. She loved Q with all of her heart but the more time she spent with Q and Sal together, her heart began to love him, too.

It took a few weeks for Jace to actually come to terms with loving two people. She was always taught growing up, if you fell in love with someone other than your significant other, it meant you didn't really love them. Jace knew this was wrong because she still loved Q with all of her heart. Yet, at the same time, her heart yearned for Sal's affections as well.

After talking things over with her twin sister, Jace decided that it was time to tell Q. She invited him over to her small apartment in the center of Staten Island for dinner. She prepared homemade pizza and garlic bread. When dinner was over and they were sitting on the couch with a glass of wine, Jace decided it was time to talk.

"I have something to tell you," she began, feeling the words catch in her throat. Fighting through, she continued "and it's not going to be pleasant." Jace took his hand as Q shifted on the couch, turning to face her.

"Okay?''

Taking a deep breath Jace began to explain herself. "I love you Brian, with all of my heart. You know that right?" When Q nodded, she continued, "but it turns out my heart has enough love for two people." Jace watched the emotions cross Q's features until he settled on a mix of confusion and pain.

"Who? What does this mean? How did this happen?"

"I'll explain everything, please just here me out." Q nodded, urging her to go on. Jace felt the tears welling up in her eyes, knowing this was not going to end well. "I've fallen in love with Sal, Q." When Q said nothing, Jace let the tears fall. She knew this had to be hard to hear, it was hard for her to tell him. "I'm so sorry, Q," she practically sobbed, " **I'm in love with you, but I'm in love with him, too."**

Q stood, dropping her hand to run his fingers through his hair. "How did this happen, Jace? I thought we were it for each other?"

"Q, we are. I love you, you know this. I don't know how it happened. But it did and now I don't know how to deal with this."

"I can't do this right now."

"Q please, just listen. I need some space and it seems like you do too. I just, I need time to think about this okay? I can't do that while hurting you."

"Are you leaving me?" Q asked, a look of utter devastation on his face.

"Yes," Jace began and she watched as Q's face fell, "no. Kind of. I just need time."

"Either you're leaving me or you're not. Just yes or no Jace, please."

"Yes," she whispered as she dropped her eyes. It isn't what she wanted to happen, but she felt if she left him, it would cause him less pain. "I'm sorry."

Q said nothing as he walked to the door and walked out of her life. Jace's heart broke. She did this, she knew that, but that didn't stop the pain from consuming her the minute Q shut the door. She curled up on the sofa and just cried, asking herself why she couldn't just be happy with one person.

*****

6 months had passes since his break up with Jace. 6 months of trying to wrap his head around everything that she told him. After 2 months, Q took a step back and tried to see the situation from her point of view. Sal was funny, charming, and even he had to admit, good looking. He began to understand why she fell for him, because the closer he paid attention to Sal, he started to fall too. How in the hell had he not seen it before, he didn't know.

Like Jace, he still loved her with all his heart. Not a day passed where he didn't wish for things to be different. At the same time, though, he slowly started to fall for Sal. Q didn't know when he started noticing the little things, like the crinkles by Sal's eyes when he laughed, or the way he always had to touch someone when laughing, the way his smile lit up an entire room, all he knew was that he did notice it and he was utterly fucked now.

Sal had been his best friend for the better part of 20 years and if there was one thing Q knew, it was that his best friend definitely didn't like men. At least, he didn't think he did. Looking back, Q tried to decide if all of their touches were friendly or if they meant something more. The way Sal's hand lingered on his shoulder when he patted his back after a challenge, the way Sal held on just a bit too long when he hugged Q or the way, whenever they were back stage, Sal had to be shoulder to shoulder with Q.

_Maybe I am an idiot,_ Q thought as he picked up his cell phone. A plan was forming in his head, to win Jace back and figure out what the hell was going on between him and Sal. But first he needed to talk to Sal. Sal answered on the second ring and Q invited him over to his apartment.

"Yeah, I'll be over shortly," Sal's voice came through the speaker. Q's stomach did flips and he knew he was totally screwed. Every part of his body was urging him to text Jace, explain everything, tell him how sorry he was for not understanding then, but he knew he needed to figure this out first.

When Sal arrived, Q grabbed them both a beer and settled in on the couch next to him with a couch cushion between them. He figured he would start with an easy question.

"Do you think someone can love two people equally?"

Without missing a beat, Sal answered "Of course. And then if the two people they love, love each other, then everything works out." Q smiled at that. At least he was open to that. Not giving Sal time to wonder where this was going he asked his next question.

"Do you think a guy can fall in love with another guy, even though he doesn't think he's gay?" Q took a swig of his beer and watched as Sal took in what he was asking. He didn't answer immediately, just thought to himself for a minute.

"Yeah, I do. I mean, I've seen it happen so I know that they can." Well, there was that.

"Do you think someone can be friends for years and fall in love with them out of nowhere?"

"Q, where is this going? What's with all the questions? Have you been talking to Jace?" At the mention of his ex's name, Q's whole body stiffened up.

"No, I haven't. Have you?" Q asked accusingly.

"Yeah, we talk every day. And before you get your panties in a bunch, there's nothing going on between me and her."

"You know?" Q just stared at Sal, bemused.

"I know what? About her feelings for me and why you guys broke up? Yeah I know, Q."

Q didn't know what to say, so he just kept quiet. If Sal knew why they broke up and about Jace's feelings for him, then why weren't they together? As if sensing where his train of thought was headed, Sal spoke up.

"She wouldn't do that to you, man. Neither would I." At that Q smiled a little. "She still loves you, Q. She never stopped."

"I love her, too."

"Then why are you letting this come between you," Sal asked, setting his beer on the coffee table.

"Funny thing," Q began, but stopped himself short. How does he explain this? How does he tell his best friend that the reason they broke up was now something he was dealing with himself? How did he tell him that of all the people they could both have fallen in love with, they both chose Sal.

Sal didn't say anything, just continued to watch as Q struggled with his thoughts. Throwing caution to the wind, Q decided to just get this over with. Instead of using his words, Q decided his actions would explain everything, so he leant forward and pressed his lips to Sal's.

Fully expecting to get or pushed away or punched, Q was shocked when neither happened. Instead Sal kissed him back, his hand coming to rest on Q's thigh. As much as he  would have loved to kiss Sal breathless, he pulled away, questions written all over his features.

"What was that?"

"You kissed me, I think I should be asking you that." Q fully expected the jokers to all pop out and yell that this was some kind of joke, but Sal just looked at him with a mix between confusion and happiness.

"Yeah I know that." Q ran his hand through his hair again, beginning to feel restless. "You kissed back though." Sal just looked at him as if to say _yeah I did_ but said nothing. "How long?" Q hoped he understood what he was asking because he sure as hell couldn't put more than two words together right now.

"Have I had feelings for you? About 10 years." At that confession, Q just stared. He always knew the relationship between them was different from the other guys, but he never expected this is where they would end up. "For Jace, just a few months."

"Wait, you're telling me you have feelings for Jace as well?" Q wholly expected to feel jealous but instead all he felt was a sense of hope rising up in his chest. Sal just nodded, not sure how Q was going to feel about that. "Does she know?" Again, another nod, this time a no. "Why not?" Sal finally used his words to answer.

"It wasn't right."

"Does she know about this," Q gestured between them. Again Sal shook his head no. Well, this plan seems to be working out pretty well. "I have to ask man."

Before Q could get his question out, Sal spoke up again. "Look. I know what it's like loving two people. And in this case, we all got lucky loving each other. Jace doesn't know about this and she doesn't have to unless you tell her."

"What if I wanted us to all be together?" It took all of Q's strength not to take the question back or run from the room. As much as he wanted things to work out between the three of them, there were so many things that could go wrong. Instead of letting his fear get the best of him, he grabbed Sal's hand and continued. "I know it won't be easy but I can't imagine my life without either of you in it. She loves you and you have feelings for her so I'm sure she would be okay with it."

"Q, you haven't talked to her in months."

"Sal, I've been coming to terms with my own feelings for the last 4 months. I just need an answer from you and then I'll work on things with her. No matter what your answer, nothing between us changes, okay?" Q rubbed circles into the palm of Sal's hand, wanting to convey his sincerity.

"I would love the opportunity to see where this goes Q." With that, Sal placed a gentle kiss to Q's lips. Pulling away, he reminded Q he still had one thing to fix. "Call her."

*****

Jace's heart stopped when Q's contact information came up on her phone. They hadn't talked in 6 months, so she wondered what was making him call now. Curiosity getting the better of her, she answered the phone and wished she hadn't.

"Hello," she answered, and listened to Q on the other end of the line. Between the litany of apologies, her heart broke all over again at the sound of his voice. Having Sal as her rock the last 6 months didn't make missing Q any easier. Knowing that she loved both of them, but couldn't have either, was worse than just losing Q.

"Will you come over for dinner tonight? We need to talk." Jace wanted to say no. She wanted to scream at him for cutting her out completely over the last 6 months but her heart wouldn't let her. She whispered a quiet _yes_ and hung up the phone.

She spent the next two hours preparing herself for the pain she knew she'd feel when she saw Q. When she felt like she had it under control, she grabbed her things and headed to Q's house. When Q answered the door, she was flooded with emotion. Relief at seeing him again, the pain and longing of missing him but most of all confusion. Standing behind Q was Sal with a soft smile on his lips.

Stepping out of the way, Q motioned her inside. She sat her keys and wallet on the table inside the door, greeted Sal and headed to the kitchen. Arriving in the kitchen first she took a deep breath to steady herself. This isn't how she imagined this night going, but she would deal with it. Hearing Q enter the kitchen, she turned around to face him and Sal.

"I'm here, what's up?" Sal stepped up to stand directly beside Q and Q finally spoke up.

"I've spent the last 6 months doing nothing but thinking. **I tried to forget you as best I could, but damnit you belong to us.** " The sudden emotion in Q's voice caused Jace to miss the last word. She took a tentative step forward, reaching out to Q when she saw it. By their sides, Q and Sal's hands were laced together. That's when she realized Q had said Us and not Me.

"What's going on," Jace asked through the tears she didn't realize were there. "What is this, Q?" Q stepped forward dropping Sal's hand.

"I didn't understand how someone could love two people, until it happened to me. I'm so sorry I didn't see it sooner, baby."

"What are you saying, Q, spell it out."

" **I love you, Jace, with all my heart, but I love him too.** " Letting what Q said sink in, she turned to Sal.

"And you, Sal? How do you feel about all of this?" Sal stepped forward and reached for Jace's hand. When she accepted, he began to speak.

"I love you. I didn't tell you because it wasn't fair to him. But then I love him too. I know this is a lot to take in," Q interrupted before Sal could finish.

"But if you'll give us a chance, I want to as well." Not being able to form words, Jace threw herself into Q's arms, her hand still clutching Sal's. When Q's arms wrapped around her, she tugged Sal's hand and brought him into the embrace as well. Never allowing herself to think about the possibility of having them both love her and love each other, it was always something she had hoped for.

Without saying anything, Jace just held onto her boys, knowing the coming road wouldn't be easy. They had their friends to tell, their family and more than anything, the adjustment period of having two partners. She knew they would struggle, but with the love between them, she knew they would make it.

***

The next day at lunch with all of the guys, Sal and Q sat on either side of Jace, and Jace couldn't remember a time when she felt happier. Murr and Joe had just sat down when Joe's eyes searched each of their smiling faces and just shook his head. When the waitress had taken their order, he spoke up.

" **So, are you guys a thing now, or?** " He gestured to the three of them and Jace just laughed. Before she could answer, Sal and Q wrapped their arms around the back of her chair and she figured that was a good enough answer. Expecting judgement, Joe just laughed and said "It's about damn time." Jace couldn't agree more.


End file.
